Courses & advising

Fall/Winter

Instructor: Liz Howard

Wed. 11.45-14.30 

It has been said that poetry “is the sound of language organized in lines,” (James Longenbach) and we might aspire to put “the best words in the best order,” (Samuel Coleridge) but poetry is also a window onto the possibilities of consciousness and a way of paying attention to the world. In the first half of the course, we will examine poetic techniques and forms and develop a shared language of poetic devices and craft terms. We will read and discuss poems and related texts and put our knowledge to use during in-class writing exercises and poetry assignments. Students will have the opportunity to present a poem of their choosing. In the second half of the course students will learn how to workshop their own poetry and how to provide helpful and compassionate critiques of the work of their peers. Assessment will be based on attendance, active participation, presentation, poem assignments, and a final portfolio of revised work.

Fall/Winter 

Instructor: Gillian Sze (Fall)/ TBA (Winter)

Tuesday-Thursday: 10:15-11.30

This course introduces students to writing poetry, reading and critiquing poems, and developing their craft. Over the course of the school year, students will learn useful vocabulary, poetic forms, techniques, and practical skills for editing and publishing. In the first semester, we will spend time building our “poetry toolkit” via readings, writing exercises, short lectures, and group discussions. The aim is to provide a common critical language that will provide a crucial foundation for the second half of the course, when we discuss our own poetry in workshops. During the workshops, students will be expected to submit their work (based on a scheduled rotation), receive criticism, as well as provide oral and written comments for their peers. Assessment will be based on regular attendance, active and consistent participation, timely submissions, and a final portfolio.

Please note: This full year course is taught by different instructors in the fall and winter semesters. Students enrolling in this course should therefore be open to different pedagogical models, which we hope will result in a diverse, engaging, and constructive class experience.

Fall/Winter  

Instructor: Kate Sterns (Fall)/TBA (Winter)

Monday/Wednesday: 10.15-11.30

The Introductory Workshop is designed to introduce elements of the craft of fiction writing (structure, character, POV etc.), with an emphasis on developing each student’s creative process. We begin with the study of published texts and an introduction on how to read like a writer. In addition, the class will engage with exercises intended to help students develop their stories, from first idea through to a revised draft. In the second semester, students begin to engage in peer review via the workshop model.

Please note: This full year course is taught by different instructors in the fall and winter semesters. Students enrolling in this course should therefore be open to different pedagogical models, which we hope will result in a diverse, engaging, and constructive class experience.

Fall/Winter

Instructor: Mikhail Iossel (Fall)/TBA(Winter)

Tuesday 17.45-20:15 

This seminar will be divided into two parts: during the first semester, in parallel with reading and analyzing many broadly representative short stories by a variety of international authors, we will be concentrating on the very nature and essence of prose writing, its main objectives, methods and techniques. Beginning with the second semester, the class will start discussing and analyzing the students’ own stories, following the typical writing workshop model (participants present their original work, which subsequently gets analyzed and critiqued by the group, led by the instructor). 

The seminar’s primary objectives will consist of helping the students understand the difference between the different genres and modes of prose writing, and becoming familiar with the various approaches to the craft of writing and its essential techniques.

Please note: This full year course is taught by different instructors in the fall and winter semesters. Students enrolling in this course should therefore be open to different pedagogical models, which we hope will result in a diverse, engaging, and constructive class experience.

Winter 2026

Instructor: TBA

Tuesday-Thursday 14.45-17.30

Description TBA

Fall/Winter

Instructor: TBA

Monday-Wednesday 10.15-11.30 (227 A)

Tuesday 11.45-2.30 (227 B) 

This introductory class is designed to introduce elements of the craft of playwriting (structure, character, dialogue, stage directions and terminology) in a practical way.  The course will also introduce the idea of a writing practice: what that is, how it will benefit you as a playwright and how to make it work for you.  We will read and discuss established plays and texts, alongside targeted writing exercises.  The first semester will primarily be focused on writing exercises to inspire creativity and generate ideas, culminating in a ten-minute play which will be workshopped in class. The second semester will be focused on writing a second play. These plays will be connected by a theme we choose in class. The class will be run in a workshop format; students will engage in peer review via the workshop model. Throughout the semester there will be class visits from established playwrights.

Fall/Winter

Instructors: Kate Sterns (Fall)/TBA (Winter)

Monday-Wednesday: 14.45-16.00

This class is designed to advance the work of ENGL226 by building on your understanding and application of elements such as: structure, character, conflict, and setting. The course will utilize exercises designed to aid in story development, along with an enhanced focus on the workshop.

Please note: This full year course is taught by different instructors in the fall and winter semesters. Students enrolling in this course should therefore be open to different pedagogical models, which we hope will result in a diverse, engaging, and constructive class experience.

Fall/Winter

Instructor: Mikhail Iossel

Monday 17.45-20:15

This seminar will follow the typical creative-writing workshop model: students will present their original work, which will be closely scrutinized and critiqued by the group, led by the instructor. The overriding objective of the course is to help you strengthen your grasp on the craft of fiction. You are all at the stage where you have written stories before, you already know what a good story looks like, and I will treat you -- as you will no doubt treat each other -- as respected peers. The primary course material of this class will be your work. Each class we will workshop at least two of your stories. Please distribute them to class participants, and me, at least two days in advance of the class.

In order to broaden our critiques, we will regularly be reading a wide range of stories by a variety of authors. We also will be doing some topic-specific, in-class exercises, geared towards the goal of honing your technical skills. Additionally, I will be giving you some home assignments. (For instance, I could at some point ask you to bring in five typed double-spaced sentences that are favorites or have struck you as worthy of notice. These sentences can be from anywhere or anyone. The same could pertain to favorite passages, or segments of dialogue, or short-short stories.)

The overall theme, in general, could be defined as “The Question of Process,” or “Beginning and Keeping On,” or “How to Make a Story.”

Fall/Winter 

Instructor: Josip Novakovich

Tuesday 14.45-17.30 

A workshop to advance your fiction writing skills, building upon the foundation of the elements of fiction introduced in ENGL226. We will survey a variety of techniques in published fiction to explore craft possibilities in a range of forms and approaches: micro-fiction, short story, novella, novel chapter; realistic and psychological fiction, literary fiction, genre fiction, and cross-genre, such as prose-poem, true story. You will constructively critique your peers’ writing, and they will critique yours. For the writing paradigms, we’ll rely on the works available in the public domain (short stories), and novel chapters (e.g.  The New York Times Book Review first chapters). We’ll also survey writing as a profession—how and where to publish short fiction and novels as well as how and where to continue your training as a writer if you so choose, in an M.A. or MFA program here or abroad or on your own.

Fall-Winter 
Instructor: Sina Queyras  
Wednesday 14.45-17.30

There is no one approach to writing prose, but there are elements that make for great work. In this course we will encounter a wide range of practices within the gen­­re—from the most classical to the most experimental. Each week we will read, discuss, and write about new texts and student work, identifying key, successful elements. Our investigations will create a common critical vocabulary and form the basis of our workshop. Great writers are great readers; as well as presenting work in class, students will produce a portfolio that includes a selection of prose work as well as a body of creative critical work.

Fall 2025 
Instructor: Sina Queyras  
Wednesday 14.45-17.30

This course introduces students to the craft of writing creative non-fiction, a genre that is based on real life experiences and that includes a wide range of writing, from literary journalism, literary essay, personal essay, memoir and novel. Students will engage in writing exercises that explore structure, perspective, theme, and style, as well as weekly reading assignments that will serve as a foundation in this genre. Students will discuss this contemporary work alongside student work, providing analysis and feedback, while learning to develop a project from a pitch to a fully formed draft. Writers we will encounter, and refer to, include but are not limited to: James Baldwin, Billy Ray Belcourt, Jamaica Kincaid, Audre Lorde, Joan Didion, Durga Chew-Bose, Brian Dillon, Deborah Levy, Hilton Als, Maggie Nelson, Renee Gladman, Emerson Whitney, Eileen Myles, Alexis Pauline-Gumbs and Dionne Brand.

Winter 2026
Instructor: Josip Novakovich
Wednesdays 17.45-20.15

A hybrid course. You may choose to write fiction, personal essays or something in-between, such as autofiction, with the ambition to produce something funny or at least entertaining. We will study several paradigms of comedic writing, such as satire, picaro novel, parody, etc. In addition to writing 20 pages of your original work, you will be expected to write a short paper—5-10pp--analyzing the elements of humor in a work of your choice. The paper may be academic in nature or a craft analysis.

Fall/Winter

Instructor: Stephanie Bolster 

Tuesday-Thursday 10.15-11.30

This workshop aims to create a community of active writers and readers who desire to make conscious – with a view to creative and technical development – macro and micro elements of their poetry and poetic practice. Although the primary reading material will be the participants’ own poetry-in-progress, we will spend class time discussing critical readings on craft, process, and career by such poets as Billy-Ray Belcourt, Anne Carson, Camille Dungy, Louise Glück, Robert Hass, Erin Mouré, Carl Phillips, Alberto Ríos, Mary Ruefle, Solmaz Sharif, Tracy K. Smith, and Matthew Zapruder. During the winter term, we will focus on writing longer poems and/or series. Time will be devoted to such practical issues as giving readings and submitting work for publication. Participants should be prepared to provide detailed, considered, and respectful written and oral critiques of each other’s work and to be active in class discussion. Assessment will be based on a final portfolio of 12 pages of revised poetry, two essays/presentations, regular attendance, timely submissions, class participation and preparation, and creative development.

Fall/Winter

Instructors: TBA/ (Fall) /Liz Howard (Winter)

Wednesday 17.45-20.15 

“Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives”

—Audre Lorde, “Poetry is Not a Luxury”

In this second semester of the advanced poetry workshop, we will explore poetry as an energetic field of potential where inquiries and intentions such as connection, experimentation, and resistance can be made to sing. Students will read, discuss, and present on poetry from the diverse practices and poetics of contemporary practitioners. Examination of these works will be grounded by contextualizing interviews, reviews, essays, as well as other forms of media including podcasts and video. Our dominant focus will be workshopping student work using an author-centred model guided by principles of anti-racism and generative critique. We will also discuss strategies for revision, the road to publication, being in community, and how, as Dionne Brand once said, “poetry can make a life.” By the end of the semester students will produce an 8-12 page chapbook of new work alongside a statement of poetics.

Please note: This full year course is taught by different instructors in the fall and winter semesters. Students enrolling in this course should therefore be open to different pedagogical models, which we hope will result in a diverse, engaging, and constructive class experience.

Fall-Winter 
Instructor: TBA
Wednesday and Fridays: 13:15-14:30

This advanced playwriting workshop is primarily focused on the creation of a full-length play. The class combines workshopping original scripts with reading and discussing plays, watching plays, readings about writing plays and plenty of writing exercises tailored to playwriting. We will explore different styles of playwriting and work towards uncovering your own specific voice as a playwright through different writing exercises and establishing a writing practice. Time will also be devoted to the practical aspect of playwriting: grants, one-page blurbs and cover letters for Artistic Directors, a creative CV and how to get your work read and seen. Readings will include plays from both Canadian and International playwrights. There will be guest speakers from various theatrical backgrounds and may include: established playwrights, directors, designers and actors.

NB:  Workshopping first drafts will begin in the fourth week of class.

Fall 2025

Instructor: Stephanie Bolster

Tuesday-Thursday: 13.15-14.30

How long is a long poem? What distinguishes a long poem from a poem series? Given that poetry depends upon compression, how does one sustain interest – both one’s own and the reader’s – in a longer work? How much variety is enough and how much is too much? We will discuss these issues in response to the participants’ submissions, published work, and critical essays.

Beginning in Week 2, each participant will workshop material from a longer project, with a focus on issues relating to the architecture of such a work, including: beginnings and endings, sequencing and sectioning, pacing, balancing lyrical and narrative impulses, tonal and syntactic modulation, shifts of speaker and addressee, formal and thematic variation, and titles and subtitles. Assessment will be based on a final portfolio of revised poetry (which may consist of a single long poem, a series of connected poems, or excerpts of a longer work-in-progress), as well as an assignment, regular attendance and timely submissions, and class participation and preparation.

Prerequisites: Completion of ENGL 225 and ENGL 348.

Winter 2026

Instructor: TBA

Thursday 14.45-17.30

TOPIC to be confirmed soon.

Fall/Winter
Instructor: Liz Howard 
Mon-Wed: 10:15-11:30 a.m. 

Fall/Winter
Instructor: Gillian Sze 
Tues-Thurs: 10:15-11:30 a.m.

This course introduces students to writing poetry, reading and critiquing poems, and developing their craft. Over the course of the school year, students will learn useful vocabulary, poetic forms, techniques, and practical skills for editing and publishing. In the first semester, we will spend time building our “poetry toolkit” via readings, writing exercises, short lectures, and group discussions. The aim is to provide a common critical language that will provide a crucial foundation for the second half of the course, when we discuss our own poetry in workshops. During the workshops, students will be expected to submit their work (based on a scheduled rotation), receive criticism, as well as provide oral and written comments for their peers. Assessment will be based on regular attendance, active and consistent participation, timely submissions, and a final portfolio

Fall/Winter
Instructor: Kate Sterns
Mon-Wed: 10:15-11:30 a.m. 

The Introductory Workshop is designed to introduce essential elements of the craft of fiction writing (structure, motive, conflict, character, POV etc.). We begin with the study of published texts alongside targeted exercises intended to help students develop their stories. In the second semester, students begin to engage in peer review via the workshop model. In this class, we focus on the creative process —how to move from that first idea through to a revised draft— and on developing your editorial skills. Participation is a key factor in the success of any workshop and students are expected to attend the workshop consistently.

Winter
Instructor: Josip Novakovich (Winter term only) 
Tuesday 17:45-20:15

The first half of the course covers the elements of fiction and writing techniques exemplified in published stories. You will do a variety of exercises in preparation for the second half of the course, to be conducted mainly as a writing workshop, with participants presenting their original work for class discussion and feedback, with advice for further development and revision. You will gain a sense of what works in your prose as well as in the prose of your peers, developing not only writing skills but also editorial skills, which are essential for revising and improving works in progress. When the time permits, we will do a few writing sketches in various genres.

Please note: This full year course is taught by different instructors in the fall and winter terms. Students enrolling in this course should therefore be open to different pedagogical models, which we hope will result in a diverse, engaging, and constructive class experience.

Fall/Winter
Instructor: Mikhail Iossel
Wed: 2:45-5:30 p.m.

This seminar will be divided into two parts: during the first semester, in parallel with reading and analyzing many broadly representative short stories by a variety of international authors, we will be concentrating on the very nature and essence of prose writing, its main objectives, methods and techniques. Beginning with the second semester, the class will start discussing and analyzing the students’ own stories, following the typical writing workshop model (participants present their original work, which subsequently gets analyzed and critiqued by the group, led by the instructor).

The seminar’s primary objectives will consist of helping the students understand the difference between the different genres and modes of prose writing, and becoming familiar with the various approaches to the craft of writing and its essential techniques.

Winter 2025 
Instructor: TBC 
Tues and Thurs: 2:45–5:30 p.m. 

Fall/Winter
Instructor: TBC
Mon-Wed, 10:15-11:30 a.m. 

This introductory class is designed to introduce elements of the craft of playwriting (structure, character, dialogue, stage directions and terminology) in a practical way. The course will also introduce the idea of a writing practice: what that is, how it will benefit you as a playwright and how to make it work for you. We will read and discuss established plays and texts, alongside targeted writing exercises. The first semester will primarily be focused on writing exercises to inspire creativity and generate ideas, culminating in a character monologue which will be workshopped in class. The second semester will be focused on writing a short one-act play. The class will be run in a workshop format; students will engage in peer review via the workshop model. Throughout the semester there will be class visits from established playwrights. The final two weeks of the winter semester will be devoted to a mini play-reading festival.

Fall/Winter
Instructor: TBC
Tues: 11:45 a.m.-2:30 p.m. 

This introductory class is designed to introduce elements of the craft of playwriting (structure, character, dialogue, stage directions and terminology) in a practical way. The course will also introduce the idea of a writing practice: what that is, how it will benefit you as a playwright and how to make it work for you. We will read and discuss established plays and texts, alongside targeted writing exercises. The first semester will primarily be focused on writing exercises to inspire creativity and generate ideas, culminating in a character monologue which will be workshopped in class. The second semester will be focused on writing a short one-act play. The class will be run in a workshop format; students will engage in peer review via the workshop model. Throughout the semester there will be class visits from established playwrights. The final two weeks of the winter semester will be devoted to a mini play-reading festival.

Fall/Winter 
Instructor: TBC
Tues-Thurs 2:45-4 p.m.

A workshop to advance your fiction writing skills, building upon the foundation of the elements of fiction introduced in ENGL226. We will survey a variety of techniques in published fiction to explore craft possibilities in a range of forms and approaches: micro-fiction, short story, novella, novel chapter; realistic and psychological fiction, literary fiction, genre fiction, and cross-genre, such as prose-poem, true story. You will constructively critique your peers’ writing, and they will critique yours. For the writing paradigms, we’ll rely on the works available in the public domain (short stories), and novel chapters (e.g. The New York Times Book Review first chapters). We’ll also survey writing as a profession—how and where to publish short fiction and novels as well as how and where to continue your training as a writer if you so choose, in an MA or MFA program here or abroad or on your own.

Fall/Winter
Instructor: Josip Novakovich
Monday: 5:45-8:15 p.m.

A workshop to advance your fiction writing skills, building upon the foundation of the elements of fiction introduced in ENGL226. We will survey a variety of techniques in published fiction to explore craft possibilities in a range of forms and approaches: micro-fiction, short story, novella, novel chapter; realistic and psychological fiction, literary fiction, genre fiction, and cross-genre, such as prose-poem, true story. You will constructively critique your peers’ writing, and they will critique yours. For the writing paradigms, we’ll rely on the works available in the public domain (short stories), and novel chapters (e.g. The New York Times Book Review first chapters). We’ll also survey writing as a profession—how and where to publish short fiction and novels as well as how and where to continue your training as a writer if you so choose, in an MA or MFA program here or abroad or on your own.

Fall/Winter
Instructors: TBC/Kate Sterns (winter semester only)
Mon and Wed: 2:45-4 p.m.

This class is designed to advance the work of ENGL226 by building on your understanding, and application, of elements such as: structure, character, conflict, and setting. The course will utilize exercises designed to aid in story development, along with an enhanced focus on the workshop.

Please note: This full year course is taught by different instructors in the fall and winter semesters. Students enrolling in this course should therefore be open to different pedagogical models, which we hope will result in a diverse, engaging, and constructive class experience.

Fall/Winter
Instructor: TBC
Wed: 11:45 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Fall
Instructor: Mikhail Iossel
Thurs: 5:45-8:15 p.m. 

This is a course about reading and writing -- and the vital connections between the two. It can be viewed as advanced practice in the writing and revising of creative nonfiction. We will explore the creative possibilities of non-fiction writing, deepen our understanding of the genre through careful reading of past and contemporary authors, and hone our critical reading skills by considering such essential issues facing non-fiction writers as the tension between differing prose styles, the choice of personal voice and vision, and the importance of deliberate artistic approaches to experience. We will pay especially close attention to how essayists choose their topics and structure their narratives.

Prerequisites: Completion of any 300 level Creative Writing course, or permission of the department.

Winter
Instructor: Mikhail Iossel
Thurs: 5:45-8:15 p.m.

This is a course about reading and writing -- and the vital connections between the two. It can be viewed as advanced practice in the writing and revising of creative nonfiction. We will explore the creative possibilities of non-fiction writing, deepen our understanding of the genre through careful reading of past and contemporary authors, and hone our critical reading skills by considering such essential issues facing non-fiction writers as the tension between differing prose styles, the choice of personal voice and vision, and the importance of deliberate artistic approaches to experience. We will pay especially close attention to how essayists choose their topics and structure their narrative.

Prerequisites: Completion of any 300 level Creative Writing course, or permission of the department.

Fall-Winter
Instructors: Sina Queyras (Fall)/Liz Howard (Winter)
Wed: 11:45 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

Students of this advanced poetry workshop will be required to produce writing on a weekly basis. We will spend the bulk of our time reading and discussing student generated work. Students will develop tools for a sustainable creative practice, engage in writing experiments and learn to present our work in print and performance. The first semester will focus on experiments and creative play and the second semester will be spent working on an extended project. Poets will be required to attend literary events over the year. Reading list will include a course pack and authors including, but not limited to: Canisia Lubrin, Sue Goyette, Karen Solie, AE Stallings, Claudia Rankine, Franny Choi, CA Conrad, Dionne Brand, George Abraham, Iman Mersal, Terrance Hayes, Wanda Coleman, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, and Diane Seuss as well as the The Penguin Book of the Prose Poem and several literary journals including The Capilano Review, The London Review of Books.

Please note: This full year course is taught by different instructors in the fall and winter semesters. Students enrolling in this course should therefore be open to different pedagogical models, which we hope will result in a diverse, engaging, and constructive class experience

Fall/Winter
Instructor: Alexandria Haber 
Wed and Fri: 1:15-2:30 p.m.

This advanced playwriting workshop is primarily focused on the creation of a full-length play. The class combines workshopping original scripts with reading and discussing plays, watching plays, readings about writing plays and plenty of writing exercises tailored to playwriting. We will explore different styles of playwriting and work towards uncovering your own specific voice as a playwright through different writing exercises and establishing a writing practice. Time will also be devoted to the practical aspect of playwriting: grants, one-page blurbs and cover letters for Artistic Directors, a creative CV and how to get your work read and seen. Readings will include plays from both Canadian and International playwrights. There will be guest speakers from various theatrical backgrounds and may include: established playwrights, directors, designers and actors.

NB: Workshopping first drafts will begin in the fourth week of class.

Fall
Instructor: TBC
Thurs: 11:45 a.m.-2:30 p.m.

This course will focus on workshopping your script as if it was scheduled for a production. We will cover all the different aspects involved in getting a play from page to stage, starting with the script itself.

Over the course of the semester, you will write two drafts of your play.

An essential component of the Unit is play readings. Each draft will be read aloud (by the rest of the Unit). As a unit, we will work cohesively as a group to support and offer feedback to each other. One of the crucial components of the Unit is peer feedback. In addition to notes/thoughts from the instructor, you will also receive feedback from your fellow playwrights. For the final readings, each playwright will have the opportunity to have their workshop with a guest artist attending, who will give their feedback on specific aspects of playwriting. Some potential guest artists include: actors (who will perform the reading) set/ costume designer, director, Artistic Director and sound designer. In the final class, we will discuss how and where to submit your plays and how to write a grant.

NB: You must bring to the class a working first draft. It does not have to be a completed (100%) first draft, but it should be substantial (at least 85% written).

Pre-requisites: Completion of ENGL227 and ENGL384

This class is cross-listed with ENGL670/2/A.

Winter
Instructor: TBC
Tue–Thurs: 10:15–11:30 a.m.

This course will introduce students to the principles and practices of writing narrative for a range of media, including screenwriting, interactive fiction, and videogames. Throughout the course, we’ll explore topics ranging from script writing and writing for interaction to narrative design for digital media and formatting. Students will have the opportunity to experiment with different genres and to produce short final projects in a genre of their choosing. The class will be run in a seminar/workshop format that may feature a range of elements, including short instruction blocks, class discussions, activities, practical skill applications, and peer feedback.